<font color=skyblue>I went to Merchants Tire today to get two new tires put on the car, as well as four new drive belts. I had a $20 coupon to get a discount on the tires, and a $10 sale was offered by Merchants for the purchase of two tires. I was also told that if I needed an alignment, I would be called before doing so to ask permission...and that it would cost $49.99 for it, if needed.

I got the sales receipt that outlined all the charges, but because there was another customer behind me, I was considerate enough to just sign the paper and get out of the way.

I get home and do the math, and realize that they did do an alignment on my car without calling...and that it had cost $69.00. I also discovered that they ADDED $20 to the bill instead of subtracting it, for my coupon!

I went back and fussed real badly. I told them that not only did they owe me $40, but that I had been wrongly advised on the $49.00 alignment and neither had I ever consented to the charge.

There were four people in the waiting room, hearing every word I was saying, and was probably now going to make sure they looked over their paper work better before paying, thanks to me. The guy at the register wanted to shut me up quick and let the other customers know they were trustworthy...so he not only refunded my $40 for the coupon mistake...he also discounted me on the alignment for what I had been quoted AND gave me an extra $5.00 for making the mistakes.

He blamed his computer, which does all the processing of the bills...and that he only plugged in the info. I did not need an explanation, because I had my money...the only reason I had come back.</font>

Thief..

Jeez man. Well, at least you were compensated. Different shop, next time?

Dude I'm understanding ya. How much did they want to charge for the old tire processing fee?

I've gotten to were I use a cc, for this stuff, figure ahead of time their quotes, and call the cc office and give them the quote and 10% over for pre-authorization. This prevents those "well this needed to be done, but we couldn't get a hold of you" replies, when the phone never rang. That really makes them try to get a hold of you, or, they don't get paid for something you didn't authorize to start with.

Reminds me of the time, while living in Tennessee during my first marriage, we needed a new starter on an Izuzu P'up.

Went to Western Auto and they told us how much was estimated to replace the starter and we sign the estimate where it says in BIG BOLD LETTERS that IF the cost once they get to working on it will be more than 10% over the estimate, they will notify us before doing the work.

Well...as it was our only mode of transportation, we opted to wait on the vehicle.

Their waiting room had this big picture window so you could look out in the bays at the cars being worked on. I spent time reading off and on and watching them do the work. About 30 minutes in, I notice them draining fluid out of the car and realize they've pulled the lower radiator hoses off to get to the starter.

When they were done and we were checking out, the cost was almost DOUBLE what our quote was because they had to pull and replace those hoses.

I was LIVID! I gave the man at the counter HECK and told him I was NOT going to pay that extra money because they never said anything to me about it and I was RIGHT THERE in their waiting area!!!

He got very flustered, but I continued making my scene in front of the other customers and when he told me he couldn't do anything about it, I told him to get me his manager or I was going to call WA's corporate office.

He got his super and I went through it all again with him and he told the guy to charge me what was on my original quote.

Damn skippy. *hmph*

Good on you, Larry, for not letting them rip you off.

Also, if you have to wait on a vehicle to be repaired, don't let any mechanics hand you crap about "Chilton" prices for labor charged.

Another instance at a shop my parents had taken a vehicle for work to be done - they waited on it and it took the guys about 2 hours to complete the job...and THAT was while they were also doing bits of work on OTHER vehicles. THEN, they tried to charge my folks for SIX hours worth of labor because "the book" told them that's how long it's supposed to take.

Needless to say, my parents got THEIR money back, too.

I know these guys gotta make some money, but if you are good enough to do a 6 hour job in 2 hours, you make PLENTY of money by doing a good job more efficiently and getting MORE CUSTOMERS from good word-of-mouth.

[ 09-18-2004, 02:49 PM: Message edited by: Lady Sedai ]

I hate it when things like that happen... it has happened to my dad a lot when he gets his tires changed.

The squeeky wheel gets the grease, and I've NEVER had a problem squeeking. ;)

<font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#00FF00">Accidents like that happen and you should always check over your receipt as sometimes things are punched twice or the wrong sticker is on the item so a bottle of shampoo ends up being $300, or coupons don't go through. Those are easy catches as you would be like stunned as soon as you saw the bill.

Although this one time I bought two boxes of tinned cat food for 99 cents each and didn't realize it until I got home. They charged for 2 tins as opposed to 2 boxes. :D
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[ 09-20-2004, 11:48 AM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

That's the other side of the story. How many people would go back and tell the shop if they had been massively undercharged? Not me anyway :D

I agree ross everyone complains about getting over charged. But when they get something for free or cheaper they never run back and tell them. But I would never go back as well. ;)